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What suggestion can you offer for enhancing a specific lesson of a Glencoe mathematics text? Ideas may include using concrete objects to illustrate concepts, working with cooperative groups, incorporating ongoing assessment, or any other strategy that you have used successfully in your classroom.

Example: This activity was written by a teacher using the 1995 edition of Mathematics: Applications and Connections, Course 2, lesson 7-4, pages 263-265. The lesson is entitled "Adding Integers."

"I used students holding a positive or negative sign instead of using counters. Students took turns in front of the room displaying their signs. Those at their seats wrote the addition sentence shown by the human counters. Those remaining after zero pairs sat down represented the answer."


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Course 3/Lesson 2-3: Mary J., Teacher
Columbus, OH

"You may want to use bingo chips as counters instead of using paper models. I also use golf tees instead of cups. Both manipulatives are inexpensive, more durable, easy to store, and take less set up time."

Course 3/Lesson 3-4: Karey K., Teacher
Grand Island, NE

"I reinforce adding integers by having the students play 'Gotcha'. The game is played just like 'make-a-square' except integers are written inside each square formed by a grid of dots. When a player completes a square, he or she scores the integer inside and takes another turn. The highest total wins."

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Course 3/Lesson 3-5: Janet E., Teacher
Slippery Rock, PA

"Students can use masking tape to create a number line on the floor. Then they walk along it to subtract integers. Starting at zero and facing the positive integers, they walk forward for positive integers, backward for negative integers, and do an about-face at the minus sign."

Course 3/Lesson 4-9: Karey K., Teacher
Grand Island, NE

"I ask my students to look for misleading statistics in magazines and newspapers. They were amazed at how many examples they found."

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Course 3/Lesson 4 Study Guide: Dennis N., Teacher
Emporia, KS

"For a final project, I have my students select their own survey question. Then they survey 50 people, organize their findings, and display the results in more than one form. Afterward, we play 'Classroom Feud'."

Course 3/Lesson 5-3: Clare P., Teacher
Lamberton, MN

"If a computer is available, students can use software like 'The Geometric Supposer: Triangles' or LOGO for more practice in classifying triangles. Working in pairs, one student creates a triangle while the other classifies it and justifies their answer. Then they switch roles."

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Course 3/Lesson 5-4: Lois O., Teacher
Longmeadow, MA

"You may want students to do an activity similar to the Mini-Lab on page 184 to discover that the sum of the angles of a quadrilateral equals 360° If they use a compass to draw an arc at each angle, tear off each angle above the arc and rearrange the angles so they can form a circle (360°)."

Course 3/Lesson 6-9: James R., Teacher
Medina, OH

"My students find it easier to use the division method for finding the LCM."

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Course 3/Lesson 7-1: James H., Teacher
Minerva, OH

"I have students apply the mental math strategy of compensation to adding fractions."

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Course 3/Lesson 9-6: Lorraine J., Teacher
Columbus, OH

"Lay a mirror on the ground between the school and a student so he or she can see the top of the school in the mirror. Have others measure the distances from the mirror to the school and to the student, and from the student's eyes to his or her feet. Have them set up a proportion to find the school's height."

Course 3/Lesson 13 Study Guide: Jeanne E., Teacher
Columbus, OH

"I write each of the 'Words to Learn' on an index card and write each definition on another card. Then students play a game similar to Concentration."

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